South Side: Mary Beth Doyle Park has picnic tables, a basketball court, swings, paved and unpaved trails, and an 18-hole disc golf course on 80 sprawling acres. A wetland preserve, formed by an unusual dam-and-channel system that diverts Mallets Creek, affords opportunities for wildlife viewing year round. a2gov.org/departments/Parks-Recreation.
Farther south, Pittsfield Township has nearly a square mile of open space at the Pittsfield Preserve. Located north of Michigan Ave. east of Platt, its 626 acres encompass more than four miles of nature trails, a great blue heron rookery of over forty nests, wetlands, woods, and meadows. pittsfield-mi.gov
